Donna
Leishman |
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This month’s spotlight interview
is Dr. Donna Leishman. Born,
living and working in Scotland, Donna has worked
in the US and the UK. Her personal works include
RedRidingHood and Deviant:
The Possession of Christian Shaw. These
pieces and others can be found at her web
site. Donna supports the new media design
community through being Course Director for the
BA (Hons) in Illustration at Duncan of Jordanstone
College of Art in Dundee, Scotland, speaking engagements
such as FlashInTheCan
and agreeing to share her insight with us. Thank
you Donna for a great interview.
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| For
those who have not visited your site - can you
describe a bit about
your background and education? What are you currently
doing? |
I am 29, I was born, live and work
in Scotland. I’ve done stints as a designer
for Bullseyeart (NYC), BlackID (UK) and freelanced
for Itsnotrocketscience and Flamjam. I was formally
trained as a non-digital Illustrator and Printmaker
and after a spell working in newmedia I returned
to education to complete a Masters in Design (resulting
in my RedRidingHood project), and from there on
in continued my academic pursues to finally gain
a Doctor of Philosophy in 2004. These days as
well as my own research and work - I’m currently
Course Director for the BA (Hons) in Illustration
at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee,
Scotland.
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| How
did you start working with Flash and New Media? |
Around 1998 when I was learning
how to code in HTML and publish online I started
a training placement and subsequent job at BlackID,
which back then was a real creative newmedia hub
in Scotland. It was there that I was introduced
to Flash and Director – the former being
the tool for me!
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| Do
you have a favorite program or medium to work
with and why? |
It has to be Flash, these days I
do almost all of the drawing and artwork directly
within the package itself, I do the animation
and coding for all my interactivity within Flash.
The only external ingredient being the audio.
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| Do
you have a favorite project so far? If so, which
one and why? |
It would have to be Deviant: The
Possession of Christian Shaw (2004).
It represents the core of my PhD research –
and a lot of sweat went into that! In terms of
the volume of drawing and detailing – visual
styling and sheer concentration this project is
by far the most sophisticated. It is also based
on a real narrative / tragic event – this
gives it special ethical relationship to me.
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| What
inspires you? Motivates you? What is your driving
force? |
History and culture are continuous
sources of motivation and are normally inspirations
for projects. As is the (in terms of total out
there) small bank of literature, art and film
dealing with archetypes and in particular the
role of women. In terms of being driven my goals
are to create experiences and narratives that
are different from the ‘norm’, that
challenge the audience to participate to engage
emotionally with often difficult subjects.
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| Who
are your favorite designers, artists, web sites,
books? |
http://www.jordinisip.com/
- NYC Illustrator
http://hossgifford.com
- Scots, Friend, Artist & Developer
http://www.graphicalhouse.com/
- Scots, Friends and designers.
http://www.crankbunny.com/
- NYC, Friend, Artist & animator.
http://www.goultralightsgo.com/
- Esp. the early sex slave series.
The dark prince - Nick Cave and princess - Angela
Carter.
To name but a few.
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| It
seems like you've done an incredible variety of
things. Is there
anything that you'd like to try but haven't gotten
around to yet? |
I’d like to work with physical
interactivity and installation – creating
an offline tactile narrative environment in a
contemporary gallery space.
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| Looking
back, what do you think was the most valuable
experience you've had? |
Putting my young-self out there
working for companies such as BlackID and Bullseyeart
in NYC. Both involved steep learning curves and
both exposed me to full blooded live and die for
it creatives.
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| What
would you advise aspiring designers to try to
experience or
include in their education (other than the traditional
academic pursuits)? |
I would suggest maintain a broad
spectrum of interests, when working in newmedia
it’s cannibalistic to only look at newmedia,
the broader your net the more unique your work
will. Look at and talk with fine artists, musicians,
writers, chefs, plumbers - everything!
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| Your
work is amazing as are your credentials and I'm
sure you are no
way near thinking of being done yet - what do
you hope your legacy will be? |
A woman who made me think.
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| What
do you feel about being referred to as a "pioneer"? |
I’m not sure I have? Have
I?
If so - I see myself as part of a point/ a group
in history whose goal was to be pioneering. To
challenge the conventions established by mass
media to create artwork that utilised Internet
technologies and methods of free global distribution.
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| Do
you think that there is a difference between male
and female designers? |
Hard question, and one that I’ve
discussed often – I’d say yes there’s
a difference in the newmedia design context.
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| How
so? If so, what has been the impact on you as
a designer and artist? |
Women are less likely to blindly
follow aesthetic and content fashions, I tend
to see women as having a more individual voice.
However at the top of their game I see equality
(note HiRes! & Futurefarmers) where the differences
disappear. In the early days of creating work
the ubiquitous male visual style and ideas definitely
fuelled my desire to create something else something
more.
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| Do
you view your work as a voice for women? If so,
what would you like for people to hear? |
I don’t regard my work being
specifically aimed at women – or indeed
speaking only to woman. I hope the issues tackled
are global. However given that the key protagonists
are female (and often young girls), and created
by a female there is a female perspective to be
explored, one that I hope is done with depth –
and with robustness.
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| What's
next for you? Any plans that you can share? Any
final thoughts or things you'd like to let everyone
know about? |
| The biggest plan is to have a baby
early September 2005. I’m also working on
a print piece for IAMSTATIC, and developing new
projects for next year.
Some parting advice for your readers: don’t
be shy! Put your work out there – everyone’s
could always be ‘better’, but that’s
what you address in your next project. Also
don’t be shy in terms of physically getting
out there – go meet the men (and women)
have a beer and beat them at arm wrestling!
I’ve found a lot of support and contacts
come from leaving the sanctuary of your workspace
and being opinionated.
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| Interviewed
by Claudia Snell |
| Claudia Snell
is a new media designer living and working
in Worcester, MA. With five years of professional
experience, she considers Flash to be the
most exciting technology she gets to work
with. She is the founder/manager of the
Worcester Macromedia User Group, works as
a contractor and occasionally on special
projects as a freelancer. Her work can be
found at www.claudiasnell.com.
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